REM deep processing cluster to be created in Murmansk Region, minister says
MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/. A cluster for deep processing of rare earth metals (REM) is planned to be created in the Murmansk Region, Russia's Minister for Development of the Far East and Arctic Alexey Chekunkov told TASS.
"The plan is to create a cluster for deep processing of REM in the Murmansk Region," the minister said.
The Lovozerskoye deposit contains cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium, and the Afrikandskoye deposit is one of the most promising deposits that contains 50 million tons of titanium dioxide, 860,000 tons of rare earth metals, including neodymium, praseodymium, scandium, 300,000 tons of niobium and tantalum, he added.
"The Russian Arctic plays a key role in extraction of RM and REM," the minister said. "The Arctic accounts for 97% of explored reserves and 100% of production of REM, 95-100% of the production of niobium, tantalum, zirconium, gallium and rubidium, as well as two thirds of cesium produced in Russia. In addition, significant reserves of rhenium, indium, lithium and scandium have been explored in Arctic fields though they are not being extracted so far."
Earlier, press service of deputy prime minister and the president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Yury Trutnev, reported projects to create a mining and processing plant at the Kolmozersky deposit in the Murmansk Region to mine lithium and produce lithium products. The planned investment is about 98 billion rubles ($1.2 billion), and 1,600 jobs will be created. A project to create a chemical and metallurgical complex at the Afrikandskoye field plans production of titanium dioxide, niobium and tantalum pentoxide, and titanomagnetite. The planned investment is about 17 billion rubles ($210 million), and 660 jobs will be offered there.
The Murmansk Region's Lovozersky mining and processing plant (Rosatom State Corporation) extracts and enriches rare earth metal ores. The plant's annual loparite concentrate production is 6,400 tons.
